PURC Executive Secretary sacked

The Executive Secretary of the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC), Samuel Sarpong, has been sacked amidst pressure from staff union.

A letter signed by the secretary to the President Nana Asante Bediatuo named his replacement as Mami Dufie Ofori, a Director at the commission.

Samuel Sarpong has the next 24 hours to clear his desk.

The embattled Executive Secretary is a subject of a Bureau of National Investigations (BNI) investigation after the staff petitioned the Presidency over mismanagement and cronyism under his leadership.

In one of the cases of financial irregularities, Joy News reported that ¢450,000 of the Commission's money was transferred into his personal account to fund a PURC event.

The stand-off between the staff and the Executive Secretary has played out in the media since February 2017.

Sit-down strikes were organised by the local union to force the hand of government against Samuel Sarpong.

The departure of Samuel Sarpong who has been Executive Secretary since December 2012 loomed after his close ally and Director of Public Relations and External Affairs Nana Yaa Janutah resigned last May after some 13 years at the Commission.

But while Nana Yaa Jantuah, also a subject of BNI investigations, jumped, Samuel Sarpong appeared to have waited for the push.